Theme-park innovator Walt Disney purchased nearly 30,000 acres in Orlando, Florida, to build an amusement resort; Roy Disney, Walt's brother, continued with the construction. Walt Disney World opened in October 1971, with the EPCOT park following in 1982. The initial plan called for a resort as part of the construction. Nearly a dozen official Disney resorts today join the original resort at the mega-amusement complex, providing a host of accommodation options for visitors.
The value resort is the entry level price point for the Orlando hotels. Disney's Animal Kingdom is the home of three separate resorts. The All-Star Movies Resort is a 1,920-room hotel that the company advertises as a salute to "classic Disney films." The All-Star Music Resort celebrates the music in Disney films and animated features. The All-Star Sports Resort offers guests larger-than-life icons "that celebrate the fun of sports," according to the resort.
Disney's Pop Century Resort, located in the Wild World of Sports Area, features 2,880 rooms. The exterior of the hotel features six-story-tall bowling pins, monuments to popular culture. Each of the value resorts offers swimming pools, arcade rooms that focus on a unique hotel theme, playgrounds and water features, including lakes.
Disney's moderate-level resorts offer a variety of themes. The cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort, in the Magic Kingdom Area, focus on the American frontier. Guests can explore a 700-plus-acre frontier site that incorporates log cabin accommodations. The Caribbean Beach Resort is positioned in the EPCOT area on the 45-acre Barefoot Bay. The Coronado Springs Resort, a southwestern-themed hotel on a 22-acre lake, is located in the Animal Kingdom. The Port Orleans Resort has two separate locations, one in the French Quarter of Downtown Disney and the other a 2,048-room resort on the river.
The resorts classified in the moderate range offer special dining and entertainment attractions that match the theme of the resort. The moderate rooms incorporate themes in the design and decoration, and.all resorts feature water features, dining venues, pools and playgrounds.
The majority of official Disney resorts are devoted to deluxe offerings. The Contemporary Resort, the oldest resort which is located in the original Magic Kingdom area, is located walking distance from the park. The Animal Kingdom Lodge, a 43-acre wildlife preserve, features an African-inspired lodge. The Beach Club Resort, in EPCOT, uses a New England lakeside hotel as inspiration, while the Boardwalk Inn, also in EPCOT on the lake, channels the oceanfront buildings of Atlantic City of the 1940s.
The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in the Magic Kingdom offers a Victorian-style hotel and accommodations. The Polynesian Resort features a South Pacific theme, and the Wilderness Lodge is based on the lodges operated by the National Parks Service of the American Northwest. EPCOT's Yacht Club Resort on Crescent Lake takes its nautical inspiration from Martha's Vineyard.
